June 27, 2011
CLASS ACTIONNFL Players Concerned about Past, Future as They Work to End Lockoutby Domonique Foxworth, Special to SI.com  "Meanwhile, the entire NFL has a duty to the "gladiators" who paved the way for the league's
current success by sacrificing -- often without knowing to what extent -- their minds and bodies
to live up to the game's traditions. We will proudly stand for improving the pensions for former
players and the message it sends. Players who retire from the NFL leave with, at most, five years
of health insurance, but often with several lifetimes worth of injuries and recurring mental
health issues. Elvin Bethea, the Hall of Fame defensive end for the former Houston Oilers, for
example, has had over 25 operations relating to his football career and racked up astronomical
medical bills, all without the pension support that other professional leagues provide to their
retired athletes. Finding a way to guarantee that the players giving everything they have out on
the field receive adequate health insurance is not a nicety, it is a necessity. Improvements on
this front will not only give our players, their wives, and children an important sense of
security, but also ensure that players who suffer serious injuries will not fall on hard times.
*** A fair settlement to this lockout provides this sort of support for players and has consequences
well beyond the field. Having healthy and productive ex-NFL players can be a great benefit to our
cities and communities. Ex-players like Bert Emanuel, Jack Brewer and Jamal Lewis have all started
successful companies, with a number of employees, in field such as financial services, sportswear
and trucking. The NFLPA is committed to developing the full talents of our players both on and off
the field, by providing for a more genuine "off"-season and more extensive league support for
players pursuing educational, business and public service opportunities." Click to view the article. Back to top
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITSNFL Player Care: Spine Treatment ProgramWhat is the Spine Treatment Program?
Created in June 2009, the NFL spine
treatment program makes available spine specialists at five hospitals across the country to
evaluate and treat spine-related conditions among retired players. The program will assist
players with coordinated care at excellent healthcare facilities nationwide. Each hospital
provides an orthopedic spine surgeon who serves as a program director and coordinates the
services of a time of healthcare professionals in the evaluation and, if warranted, treatment
of eligible former players. The team includes a neurosurgeon and a physiatrist. Eligible
players who cannot afford treatment may apply to the NFL Player Care Foundation for a grant to
cover some or all of the costs of treatment. Who is eligible for the Program?
Players are eligible if they are former
NFL players vested under the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan. What are the benefits?
The Program provides facilitated access, comprehensive
evaluation and possible treatment at five top-tier medical centers recognized for their expertise
in spine care. Each of the medical facilities has a dedicated orthopedic team led by a spine
surgeon to service eligible players. The five medical facilities are: - Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY
- Emory Spine Center, Atlanta, GA
- Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, MO
- University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
- University of California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
The Program does not provide any funding. However, financial assistance for players may be
available to players who qualify for charitable grants through the NFL Player Care Foundation.
Further information on the Player Care Foundation is available on this site or you may call the
Foundation at 1-800-635-4625. Click to read more. Back to top
Gene Upshaw Player Assistance FundWhat are The Professional Athletes Foundation and Player Assistance Trust?
In 1987 the Professional Athletes Foundation was created by the NFLPA to provide vocational,
educational, recreational and athletic opportunities for people of all races, religions and
nationalities, male and female, wherever they may live, including but not limited to needy, former,
amateur and professional athletes and young people who might not have the fullest opportunity to
develop their vocational and educational capabilities. The Professional Athletes Foundation is a 501(c) 3 private foundation under the Internal Revenue
Code. To address the needs of former players, the Professional Athletes Foundation established the
Player Assistance Trust (PAT) in 1992 as a fund of the Professional Athletes Foundation to provide
financial assistance to former professional and amateur football players and their families in times
of financial crisis, among other exempt purposes. Back to top
HEALTHOnline Classes Offer Free and Easy LessonsJust log on and learn whatever interests you.  by Bill Hogan, from AARP Bulletin Stan Peirce had been looking for new pursuits after a long career as an electrical engineer with
Eastman Chemical Co. in Kingsport, Tenn. Then, last year, while searching the Internet, he
stumbled on nearly 2,000 academic courses that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had put
online. Peirce saw MIT's offerings - its OpenCourseWare project complete with syllabuses,
assignments, exams and, in many cases, audio or video lectures - as nothing short of an
educational gold mine. "I couldn't believe all of this was available - for free," he says. Welcome to "e-learning." Curious about world history or quantum physics? Want to stretch your
mind by learning to speak a new language or to play the accordion? Need to fix a leaky faucet or
teach your dog to behave? Now you can learn just about anything you want to learn without setting
foot in a classroom. Wave of the Future
Years ago the Internet paved the way for learning online from
schools that charged tuition for their courses. And they still do, for academic credit. But
e-learning is different. Though it doesn't earn you credits, it does allow you to learn pretty
much on your own schedule, without spending a nickel on class fees. Dan Colman directs Stanford University's continuing studies program and sees no end to the
growth of e-learning opportunities. Colman, who founded and edits Open Culture, a website that
tracks free educational and cultural media on the Web, considers these materials to be an important
resource for personal enrichment, not a replacement for a college education. "I think we're
entering an era where lifelong learners will have access to limitless amounts of free,
noncommercial educational opportunities. Arguably, we're already there." Click to read more. Back to top
Walking Program Eases Arthritis PainStudy shows Arthritis Foundation’s Walk With Ease Program can reduce disability, pain.  You can walk your way to less disability, reduced arthritis pain and increased balance and strength
by taking part in a six-week walking program developed by the Arthritis Foundation, according to a
recent study published online in Arthritis Care and Research.
The study evaluated the effectiveness of Walk With Ease, or WWE, a community-based walking program
that works to motivate people to be physically active by focusing on strategies to help them meet
goals, monitor their progress and take advantage of social support. "I think why many people don't walk with arthritis is they are concerned they will make their
arthritis worse," says lead author Leigh F. Callahan, PhD, a professor of medicine and social
medicine at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. Click to read more. Back to top
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